Penn State Football: Ranking 2019 opponents by toughness
By Shane Lunnen
The 2019 schedule for Penn State football is tough, but manageable. How do each of the Nittany Lions’ opponents rank by toughness?
Penn State enters the 2019 season flying under the radar. The Lions do not have the high expectations like Ohio State and Michigan almost always do. Most pundits have them pegged at an eight or nine-win season.
There are enough question marks for James Franklin’s squad to believe they are a year away from contending for another Big Ten title, though.
The nine-game conference schedule for any team in the Big Ten is always going to be tough, especially for the teams in the East. Penn State draws usually-tough Iowa from the West, on the road no less, but it does avoid Wisconsin and what looks to be a much-improved Nebraska squad in Scott Frost’s second year.
The non-conference schedule is lined up in the first three games and the Lions should be undefeated coming out of it. There’s also a Friday night game for the Lions and a double bye week for all conference teams this year.
Where do Penn State’s 2019 foes line up on a scale of toughness? We rank them from least tough (think cupcake) to toughest (juggernaut).